Broken Bonds
by Lindsey Dylan
Summary: .:REVISED:. Her father is the last person she wants to ask for help. Turned away after crash landing in Earth, Mar'i Grayson has know where else to go. With a war on Tamaran, going back to her mother is not an option either. Unfortunately, there's only one alternative left. And she hates it. But what else can she do now that the bond she once had with her father has been broken?


**Hey, guys! So, first, I'd like to thank everyone who has ever read any of my stories. Some of you may been confused as to why I am sending thanks. Well, I'm just really grateful for the all the positive feedback and all the helpful advice/constructive criticism. As stated in the Author's Note that I've posted, I have been through a lot of rough time that really did a number on me. Only a few people on FanFiction, authors that I have close ties with and ones that I actually know, are aware of what I'm talking about. However, because of our long-term friendship, I trust them to keep their mouths shout about the events that had occurred. It's more of a personal matter, but I will not lie when I say that I'm not myself anymore. It's because of these changes that I decided to make changes to my stories and revise them all entirely.**

**Anyways! Moving passed the serious of the first paragraph, I'd like to welcome everyone to the revised version of _Bereft_. As I originally planned, the ****plot will seem a bit too mature for a T-rated fanfic. I still intend for the fanfic to be mature, dark, and violent, somewhat dramatic here and a little trauma there with character-deaths and bloodshed added into the mix. Once again, I plan to start off with an estranged relationship between father (Dick Grayson) and daughter (Mar'i Grayson) and slowly build towards a closer, more loving kind of bond. **

**Since I might take a while with updates know, you guys are welcome to check out my profile if any of you are interested in reading any of my other stories while you wait. So… now that's out of the way…**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS! They all belongs to DC Comics/Universe and Warner Bros. I do, however, own the plot.**

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**_~Prologue~_**

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Mar'i groaned. Her body was aching, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment and frustration. Damian was a human, he shouldn't have been able to defeat her so easily. It hurt her ego more than the flip had hurt her body. Yet, she sighed and glared when her "mentor" offered her a hand. However, it was small acts like him helping her up that made her fall in more deeply love with him. Mar'i took his hand and stood up, wincing. "Why can't I just use my starbolts?" She groaned, resisting the urge to fire a bolt of purple heat at the wall in annoyance.

"You'll be able to use them eventually, but you need to focus on learning proper combat first." Damian's answer was always the stay each time she asked, though he did use variations of the same answer every now and then. He lifted her chin with the tips of his fingers, forcing her green eyes to look into his blue ones. His calloused fingers felt rough against her smoother, softer skin. "You have to remember that you're not on Tamaran anymore. You're on Earth now. That means adapting to our ways of combat as well as customs. Tamaranean combat is more barbaric, causing a lot of unnecessary destruction… no offense. Earth's martial arts, however, is more civilized and refined, using a lot more precision and causing _less_ destruction. After you've completed you training, you'll be able to incorporate your powers and Tamaranean fighting techniques."

"OK," Mar'i muttered, pulling Damian down for a kiss, "but all this training is already getting on my nerves."

"Don't take things so hard, we're just sparring." He rolled his eyes as he pulled away. "It's not like we're actually on the field. No one will get hurt or killed."

"That doesn't make me feel any better." She sighed.

"Combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms." Damian stated, moving away from her. "It's not about having an advantage over it. _You_ should be the one dictating the terms to-"

"OK, I get it!" Mar'i rolled her eyes. Damian chuckled.

"Let's get started." He smirked. His body was turned to the side, his left leg in front of his right and his knees slightly bent. Damian's fists were brought up to his eye level. Mar'i mimicked his form.

Damian dropped his stance and began walking around her, constantly revolving around Mar'i in a circle. Mar'i shuddered, feeling Damian's hands on her body as they corrected and fixed the errors in her stance. "Your stance is an important factor." He stated. "With a poor stance, you're unbalanced and your opponent can easily knock you over. Time for a demonstration, come at me."

Mar'i didn't hesitate to start off with a punch. Damian, however, was quick enough to block it. He quickly dropped down and swiftly knocked her legs out from underneath. Mar'i groaned, rubbing at the back of her head. "Is it too late to change my mind and ask that you go easy on me?" She asked.

"You said you wanted to learn." Damian helped her up again. "How do you expect to learn if you don't feel the pain?"

"… Physical and mental exhaustion?" She suggested, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, but you put me in charge of your training." Damian chuckled. "And pain will be your mentor."

"Well, who else is supposed to train me?" Mar'i scoffed. "My dad? As if. Bruce? He'll probably just take me back to the Watchtower for questioning."

"Exactly, making me your last resort." He folded his arms. "Now get back into your stance. Remember, with a nice solid stance, you're more firm and harder to knock down. You pose more of a threat to your opponent."

Mar'i nodded, resuming her stance. Damian, once again, circled around her and inspected every inch of her body. He stopped in front of her and nodded in approval. She grinned.

"Don't get too cocky because you stance is much better now." Damian stated. "Your stance isn't that big of an important factor in a fight."

"Whatever, can we just start now?" Mar'i asked. Damian nodded and copied her stance. They began to circle around each other, constantly rotating. Mar'i made the first move and aimed her fist at his face. However, Damian quickly turned to the side and grabbed her arm. Mar'i felt her arm bending as Damian pulled her towards him, her back facing his front. Her arm was being twisted and pulled up from the middle of her back towards her neck. It hurt like hell. She hissed.

"It looks like you're stuck there, huh?" Damian chuckled. "See what happens when you become impatient?"

"Shut up!" Mar'i huff, blowing at the strands of hair that fell over her face.

"So I guess you don't want me to explain how to get out of a tight spot like this?" Damian gave her a look.

"I don't need your help!" She snapped, turning her head to glare at him over her shoulder. She hissed, wincing as his grip tightened.

"If you say so." Damian smirked as he placed his hand on the back of Mar'i's head. He pushed down, hearing her hiss.

"That hurts, you bastard!" Mar'i whimpered, glaring.

"What do you want me to about?" He asked. "You turned down my help when I offered it."

"God, you're infuriating." She hissed. "I'm going to kick your ass when I get out of this!"

"I'd like to see you try." Mar'i heard him snort as if it would never happen. Damian felt the Tamaranean girl widening her stance as her arm relaxed in his grip. He watched as she bent her right knee and pulled her leg up as far forward as she could. Damian winced as her foot collided with his shin, causing him much pain from the unnecessary amount of force in the kick. "Nice job getting out of that one."

Damian ducked when he saw the sole of Mar'i's shoe coming at his face. He stood back up and got back into his stance, only to turn when Mar'i surprised him with a fist. However, he failed to notice Mar'i smirking. A sudden strike to his stomach left Damian winded. He regained his composure not a moment too soon as Mar'i sent another punch towards his face. Damian easily avoided it, grabbing hold of her arm and easily flipping her over. Mar'i growled the moment she landed on her back far away from where Damian stood with a smug look on her face. "You should always be acting, never reacting." He stated. "You angry… good, but don't react. Channel that anger into-"

However, Mar'i cut him off with an audible frustrated growl. She lunged at him with a fist. Damian took Mar'i's momentum to just jump and use her shoulders for support as he flipped over behind her. Mar'i turned around to redirect her punch, but Damian was too quick and ducked. He stayed low on the ground, smirking as he knocked her legs out from underneath. Mar'i glared as she onto her back again, smacking away Damian's hand when offered to help her up. "I'm done!" She snapped.

"Training is mandatory." Damian replied. "You wanted to learn and you asked me to teach you since no one else would."

Mar'i rolled her eyes as Damian threw her a towel. She quickly caught it and started wiping away her sweat. "What was it like when you were in training?" She asked, panting as tried catch her breath.

"You're asking a kid who was trained by the League of Assassins." He replied. "That should say something. The kind of training Batman puts his protégés through is nothing, compared to what I was put through."

"That bad, huh?" Mar'i blew at a loose strand of her hair before brushing it out of her face.

"You have no idea." Damian sighed. "On the bright side, blood and gore won't be a bother."

"So you wouldn't get nauseous if you saw someone suddenly be chopped into pieces and gobbled up by a bunch of hungry cannibals?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You have a very disturbing imagination, but no." He shook his head.

"Thank you very much." Mar'i snorted, grinning as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"That wasn't exactly a compliment, but alright then." Damian shrugged. She leaned her forehead into his shoulder and sighed.

"I don't want to do this anymore." Mar'i murmured.

"But you were so eager to get started." He pointed out.

"That was before I realized how much effort and hard work it required." She replied. Damian laughed and she glared.

"Sweetheart, I'm not sure if you realized this but everything requires a lot of effort and diligence." Damian stated.

"On Tamaran, I didn't have to lift a finger." She whined. "I literally had servants to actually lift my fingers for me, though my mother hated it."

"Welcome to Earth, princess." He snorted. "The planet where you work to earn money so you can eat."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Mar'i rolled her eyes.

"If you want to make phase one of training easier, you need to push your emotions aside." Damian stated.

"Then how will I use my powers?" She asked. "Tamaraneans' powers draw from their emotions."

"You're getting ahead of yourself." Damian stated. "Don't forget we have a process, and your powers don't get involved until the very end."

"I remember." She scoffed. "You've brought it up, like, a hundred times already."

"Try ten," Damian quirked an eyebrow amusingly.

"Well, it felt like a hundred." Mar'i muttered. Damian chuckled.

"Emotions are you biggest problem as of right now though." Damian pushed all funny business and playful banter aside as he cleared his throat. "You need think about what it'll actually be like on the field. If there's a hostage, you want to take out the bad guy as quickly as you can. You shouldn't take too long to think about how to get out of any tight spot you find yourself in. There's a reason I tell you to act, not react."

"And that is…?" She raised an eyebrow."

"When you let go of your emotions, you become unaware of your surroundings." Damian said. "You get so caught up that you forget about everything, leaving your enemy to carry on with whatever they were doing and make a clean get away. If you were up against a creep show like Joker, no doubt his goons will be there to hold you off while their boss does whatever. If you get frustrated and decide to take it out on them, you'll just waste your energy and they'll gain an advantage by getting you while you're down. That's why it's important you try to stay calm and levelheaded."

"I think I get it." Mar'i sighed. "So can we start actually working on the field?"

"Are you crazy?" He gave her a look. "You still haven't passed phase one of your training. What makes you think you're ready to get out there?"

"The fact that you've been such a great mentor." She pouted her lip and looked at him through her dark, thick, curly eyelashes.

"That would work on any other guy, but I'm not any other guy." Damian stated.

"If I recall, it did work at _one_ point." Mar'i bit her lip and smirked.

"We were drunk." He sighed.

"It still worked." She rolled her eyes as pulled Damian down for a kiss. He responded much quicker than he did when they had first kissed. Just when she felt Damian's hand cupping her face, she smirked as she subtly placed her hand on his forearm. She felt him tense up as she grasped his forearm tightly, her grip firm. Without even blinking, Mar'i had quickly thrown him over her shoulder before he could process what was even happening. "If there's one thing you taught me, it's to never let your guard down." She grinned, extending a hand to him. Damian shook his head as he grasped her hand in his. Mar'i gasped as Damian suddenly dragged her down to the floor. He smirked and rolled over on top of her.

"I also told to never you to never trust the enemy." Damian smirked as he pinned her wrists above her head and pushed his body closer to hers, preventing her from escaping. "Besides, that was a pretty dirty trick."

"I learned from the best." Mar'i smirked back.

"When did I ever use the power of seduction for anything?" He snorted.

"I was talking about Lian, moron." Mar'i laughed. "If anything, you couldn't seduce anyone even if you tried."

"I'm pretty sure if Batman is able to do it, which I'm certain he is, then I can do it too… I wouldn't be his son if it didn't run in my genes." He grinned smugly.

"My parents are Dick Grayson and Starfire, I think it probably runs in my genes too." She murmured, relishing the warmth of his breath as it caressed her lips.

"Maybe it's more of '_contagious'_ thing, your father must have picked it up from my father." Damian leaned down closer, brushing his lips over hers.

"How about we just forget about our fathers… and focus on _this_?" Mar'i closed the gap between their lips. It was brief. Damian pulled away and stared down at her. Had she done something wrong? Mar'i couldn't tell, but the way he kept staring made her squirm underneath him.

That's when she felt it. Mar'i felt the tight grip he had on her wrists, which were still pinned above her head, suddenly loosen a bit. She groaned, relishing the sensation of Damian's hand running down her side to the curve of her hip. She shivered when the cool fabric of her uniform had brushed along her flushed skin. His hands had traveled back up, slightly pushing the neckline of her uniform down. Mar'i found it so strange that he could be so fierce and indifferent in a fight, yet so passionate and gentle whenever they had a moment like this. She also thought of it as a good thing, and an attractive quality. However, it was rare that they ever had a moment. He usually was against showing emotion or affection, even behind closed down. It troubled Mar'i greatly.

"Damian," Mar'i gasped as he nibbled lightly on her bottom lip, his tongue darting out every now and then. She parted her swollen, red lips in submission, granting him entrance. Their tongues battled for dominance before Mar'i simply allowed him to take over. "I don't think we should be doing this now." She moaned as he pulled away and began kissing along her jaw, shivering when he teased her with his tongue.

"I'm just finishing what you started." Damian smirked as he feigned innocence, leaving a trail of his saliva down her neck.

"Please," She wriggled underneath him, begging him to let go of her wrists. He suckled and bit down onto her collarbone, his lips wandering down lower and lower. He had grabbed her by the hips, pulling her tightly against him. Damian freed her wrists from his grasp and began remove the sash that had kept the shirt of her uniform from opening, slowly untying it just as Mar'i wrapped her arms around his neck. Her fingers combed through his dark black hair, tugging and pulling teasingly when she purposely allowed a finger to wrap around a lock of his hair. He growled, moving back to her neck to shower it with more attention after her shirt had completely fallen open. Mar'i was breathless, feeling the pads of his fingertips _slowly_ inching towards her lacy black bra. Her eyes fluttered shut, waiting for Damian to make his next move. She felt his warmth disappear and opened her eyes to see him move away and stand up. He was looking down at her disheveled form with a smirk. "And I thought I was a tease." Mar'i scoffed as she got up to stand.

"You are a tease." Damian stated. "If I had a nickel for every time you teased me or someone else, I'd be filthy, stinking rich."

"You make me sound like some sort of dirty, low-life, fifty-cent prostitute." She rolled her eyes and glared.

"Technically, you are a prostitute… minus the 'dirty, low-life, fifty-cent' part." He shrugged.

"I told you that I turned Eddie's offer." Mar'i's glare intensified. "There was no way in _hell_ I was going to get paid for just sleeping around… literally!"

"If we were in a much safer situation, then I would agree." Damian sighed. "However, we're dirt poor and could've used the money he offered."

"Then I'd rather die poor than die as a walking STD." Mar'i snapped.

"It would definitely be much easier if our fathers weren't such-"

"_Fuck_ our fathers, we don't need them." Mar'i waved off the subject. "We don't need their help. Besides, they don't even want us so why would they even help us at all?"

Damian was silent. Mar'i kind of had a point. He could argue that _his_ father only needed clarification on his identity and _how_ he was brought up. Mar'i's dad just didn't want her around his fiancée, fearing that Barbara either wouldn't like it or be uncomfortable about it. However, Mar'i could just point out that Batman probably hadn't done anything to clarify that Damian was who he says he is.

Damian sighed, figuring it was best to just again with the daughter of Nightwing and Starfire. "Yeah… you're right," He replied. He led her away from the sparring area, placing a hand on the small of her back, and towards the elevator. The door slid open and the couple walked inside. The moment they entered, the doors closed and Mar'i felt butterflies fluttering around in her stomach as the elevator began ascending. _I don't need my father at all_, Mar'i thought as they reached their stop. They walked out into their living room before heading towards the bedroom.

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**I have done it! I have poured everything I had into this prologue! My blood, my sweat... my tears! Now, I hope you all like it because I obviously worked very hard to write it for you all to read and enjoy. I'm really thankful to all those readers who have been avidly reading my stories and who have been waiting patiently for me to update. Once again, I thank you all so much.**

**Now, let's discuss the chapter! ****Some of you might be confused as to why I chose the write this as prologue, happy to see a little steam going on between Mar'i and Damian, but confused. I understand that usually a prologue foretells the begin of the entire story. It sets the mood, it helps the reader understand the plot before it actually takes place. Well, here's the shocker: It's actually an excerpt from a chapter that I've already written! Again, there might be confusion and maybe a little questioning but I figured that an excerpt is enough to help you sort of understand.**

**Anyways, R&R! I'd be happy to take any kind of constructive criticism. It really does help, but just don't leave any flames. I don't think I'd be able that kind of negativity due to my sensitivity. OH! And I've also decided to leave the original version posted, so I guess you guys can just read that and my other stories (some of which are not very good and I advise that you don't even bother to read them because they're just that bad) while you wait for me to update. ****So see ya later, alligators!**

_**~L. Dylan~**_

**Goal: 10 Reviews**


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